19 May 2008

Look What's Floating in The Lagoon

Tropic-Al's: Almost Surfside Dining

The Floating Restaurant Table
The bbq-donut is a motorized floating picnic table, complete with barbecue, sound system, coolers, and seating for 10
We're always up for writing about new ways for people to get together and have a good time and we've hence covered some great moveable entertaining concepts such as the Pedalpub, the Fuya-Jo party van, Red Bull's nightclub on wheels and the floating beach party. Now there's another ingenious conveyance to add to the category—part restaurant table, part BBQ, part lounge and part water activity platform, this electric-powered, water-going party platform for ten is primarily aimed at the rental market where its versatility makes it suitable for myriad applications. Indeed, it's an entrepreneurs' dream.

Firstly, it's a no brainer to make money in any water-side location as it offers seating for ten plus a central BBQ that turns into a picnic table, silent electric propulsion so it can gently cruise even the most delicate of marine environments without spoiling the ambience, a powerful sound system so you can party long and hard if you want, and it has enough on-board storage to support many other activities. Then, if you have a few of them, they all fit together to make an exclusive VIP lounge on the beach.

From the entrepreneurs viewpoint, it's a hirer's dream—ten people can cut a sizeable hire fee into manageable fiscal contributions, and there's enough external, slow-moving advertising space to make a promotional platform which is guaranteed to capture the attention of anyone within view.

The bbq-donut® is the brainchild of German inventor and entrepreneur Sebastian Schmitt, and we think it has applications globally for everything from singles get-togethers, company getting-to-know-you events, a customer magnet at carnivals and festivals, waterside and beachside promotions and as a floating catering service.

Motive power to the bbq-donut® is supplied via a Torqeedo Travel 400 Electro-outboard motor giving it a top speed of around 4km/h—more than enough for gentle noiseless, pollution-free cruising with ten souls aboard.

Take several bbq-donuts® and they can be assembled into an array of configurations of different sizes and shapes, making it suitable for use as a VIP lounge on the beach. Offering the right mix of private boothes and opennessl this additional aspect to the bbq-donut® is perfect for promotion purposes.

The main floating body of the 3.6 meter diameter donut is constructed of Polyethylene (PE) with a very strong UV protection as well as an antistatic additive, and all-up, ready to go, it weighs in at around 500 kg, and is capable of carrying a payload of around 1000 kg. There's an optional trailer for the rig, so it can be towed to different locations.

On the water in BBQ configuration, the bbq-donut® uses a low-smoke, charcoal-burning barbecue from Outdoorchef as its centrepiece and there are integrated cavities in the table for safely holding drinks, plates and cutlery.


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